(an Italian ottava rima)

The Martian sky does loom o’er tunnels built
The miners toil while under Earthers’ rule
There Martians’ bile does grow much like the silt
They chafe at being taken for the fool
Conditions poor, the Earthers feel no guilt
The Dusters’ hatred becomes like a tool
Rebellion now foments in the thin air
They wait until they’re ready ‘fore they dare

Her name is Kreya, voice with Martian lilt
She was a Duster ‘fore she was in school
Within the mines beneath the Earthers’ hilt
She’s witnessed how they have become so cruel
For her home world she’ll make the slavers wilt
And reel them in like rope upon a spool
For Dusters and their rights she truly cares
She’ll fight the battle she feels only fair

As fighting starts the world seems all atilt
Blood pouring into seams and into pools
Both Earth and Duster lives a patched-up quilt
In which the worlds don’t follow any rules
Comes time to take back blood that has been spilt
And years of torture now to overrule
So Kreya joins the fight for Mars affairs
Success the only outcome she can bear

(c) 2017 Miriam Ruff All Rights Reserved